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How we brand items?

A Guide to Branding Products.

SCREEN PRINTING:

The process is known as screen printing. Silk screen printing is a name first used when the mesh or screen was made of natural silk. Nowadays screen mesh is either made from plyester, stainless steel or nylon. The basic items of equipment required to carry out screen printing are:

STENCIL:

This consists of a frame onto which a mesh is attached under tension. The mesh is coated or covered with a photosensitive material. The image to be printed is created photographically on the stencil leaving open areas of mesh through which ink passes. The stencil is also known as "the screen".

SQUEEGEE:

A flexible polyurethane blade (sometimes rubber) held in a rigid mount or handle.

INK:

Can take the form of a wide range of solids or dyes suspended in a fluid.

SUBSTRATE:

This is a general term for the surface that is to be printed. The surfaces can range from bread to biomedical sensors.

MACHINE BASE:

The base provides a surface for the substrate to be printed and the upper section secures the screen.

Function of the Squeegee:

In conventional scree-printing the squeegee carries out two funtions. It deflects the stencil and brings it into contact with the substrate. The squeegee is held at an angle of typically 75 degrees to the horizontal. During the printing action the squeegee is moved across the stencil, creating a pressure wave in the ink. The actual point of flow is where the leading edge of the squeegee is in contact with the stencil. This is known as the "Flow Point".

Just like the method explained above for flatbed screen printing, cylindrical items can also be decorated by using a rotary screen printing machine. This is often the method of choice if an item is to be decorated by a design that wraps around more than a quater of the circumferance of the item. In the promotional. market place the most common items to be decorated using this process are pens and mugs. The process works by a cylindrical object sitting on wheels allowing it to spin freely up to 360 degrees. A squeegee is placed directly above the item; this if often referred to as top dead centre. A stencil with the image to be printed containing ink is all that sits between the item and the squeegee. The stencil is then moved in a horizontal motion causing the item to rotate. The stationary squeegee then pushes ink through the stencil onto the cylindrical item.

PAD PRINTING:

Pad printing, is an "indirect offset gravure" printing process directly related to a process invented several hundred years ago in Europe.

The main elements of the pad printing process are:

Printing plate

The ink

Silicone rubber printing pad

Doctor blade or ink cup

Machine

The image to be printed is created on the printing plate, normally produced by chemical etching. The plate is generally steel or a nylon photopolymer material.

Pad printing inks contain solvents. The evaporation of the solvents from the ink is th emain mechanism that enables the process to operate. When the ink is contained within the etched image area this evaporation of solvents causes the surface of the ink to become tacky. The shape of the pad is such that when it comes into contact with the tacky surface of the ink. The ink sticks to the pad, as the pad lifts the printing surface rolls away from the plate and lifts up ink from the etching.

Whilst the pad moves towards the object to be printed the solvent continues to evaporate from the ink on th epad and the outside surface of the ink becomes tacky.

As the pad makes contact with the object and compresses, the print surface of the pad rolls across the object and the tacky surface of th eink attaches itself to th esurface of the object. The pad then lifts and the printing surface of the pad rolls away from the surface of the object and releases the ink leaving it laying on the surface. Whilst this is happening the etched portion of the plate is recharged with ink, and the pad returns to pick up another image from the plate.

'Open ink trough' where the ink is held open to the atmosphere in a trough either behind the plate or around the plate.

'Closed cup' or 'sealed cup', where the ink is contained in an inverted cup with its opening i n contact with the plate. Being encolsed in the cup inhibits the evaporation of solvent from the ink.

'Rotary system' where a rotary drum type silicone pad is used in conjunction with a steel cylindrical plate. The ink is either held in an open trough type system or in a sealed chamber rather like the inverted cup.

TRANSFER PRINTING:

A digital transfer is a way of producing full colour designs, which are too complex to be screen printed, for application onto garments, caps, or bags via a heat process.

The required image is printed onto white transfer paper. This is then cut out with a plotter, which is a machine that cuts through paper following an outline drawn in Adobe Illustrator.

The transfer paper is then placed onto the object. The correct amount of heat and pressure is then applied. This is a precise process which ensures there is no damage to the surface of the product. The image then adheres permanently to the object.

LASER ENGRAVING & EMBROIDERY:

LASER ENGRAVING:

This method is where lasers are used to engrace, etch or mark an dobject. The technique is highly technical and complex utilising a computerised system to drive the movements of the laser head. Despite the complexity, very precise and clean engravings can be achieved at a high rate. It is this level of detail that makes it ideal for creating a high quality, cost effective means of personalising a wide variety of materials in particular metal, glass and wood. The laser engraving technique does not involve tool bits coming into contact with the surface of the product being engraved. This means laser engraving is at a distinct adcantage over alternative engraving, and less modern technologies, where bit heads have to be replaced regularly.

EMBROIDERY:

This is the application of embroidering a logo or desing onto clothing, caps or bags, using computerised embroidery machines.

There are two main parts to this process. The first part is 'Digitzing' which is when the logo is turned into stitches by physically tracing the design and creating the various types of stitches on a computer programme which will recreate the design. The digitizer will decide the best way for the design to be sewn onto the fabric, and will make decisions according to the fabric type and design size. Once the design has been digitized a disk is made which controls the embroidery machines. Now the design is ready for part two. This is the sewing process; firstly the disk is sampled on a loose piece of fabric to ensure that the quality is good and that there are no errors in the digitizing. Once the sample has been approved production can commence.

Some designs may need to be modified before they can be embroidered successfully. Small text below 4-5mm may need enlarging slightly and designs with very fine detail may require editing in order to achieve the besk overall look.